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When we touch down for the Intergalactic Ford Festival, the NMRA is always there to ensure a safe landing and tons of action-packed drag racing! We feature a multitude of classes that include everything from all-out 4-second drag cars to index street car classes, and everything in between. Beech Bend's drag strip is where the power meets the pavement and champions are crowned.
We caught “Beefcake” from Beefcake Racing as he was prepping to run his regular-cab, short-bed 2022 F-150. Beefcake Racing specializes is boosted Coyote V8s, so it's no surprise that the V8 truck is sporting a Vortech supercharger in addition to its LTH headers and CobraJet intake manifold. The truck rides on VAS 3/5 drop suspension with a set of double-adjustable Viking Berserker shocks and a set of Weld wheels mounted with Mickey Thomson tires. Its rear springs use traction bars to hook up and they certainly work. The 10-speed automatic, bolstered by a Suncoast torque converter and clutch kit, also helps to deliver the power efficiently, as it leaves hard. “So far it’s been a 10.70, I’d like to go 10.50 or 10.40, said Beefcake. “The 10.70 is a 2nd-gear leave.” We watched him get a holeshot and then carry that lead to the top end. So far he hasn’t been able to hit his 10.50 ET, but there’s lots more racing to be done.
Mike Bowen from Girard, Pennsylvania has been racing this 1971 Maverick for years. Originally built for Coyote Stock, he’s switched to Factory Stock and has been a solid competitor ever since. Bowen rows his own gears with a Long shifter linked to a G-Forge G101A four-speed. Asked about his goals for the afternoon, he reported that he’d be really happy with another 10.02 like he’s already run this weekend. The car looks deceptively simple and runs leaf springs with Caltracs to put the Coyote’s power to the track, and it pulls the wheels hard every time. We tried to get more information out of Bowen and probed him for details on the gear ratio in his 9-inch rear axle. “This one is a four-something,” he laughed, “I don’t want to make it easy for everybody else.”
